Review Adriana's Restaurant - Hamilton

The nicest Italian restaurant we have tried in NZ so far! Generous quantities, savory food, correct prices. The steak with the creamy mushroom sauce was very well cooked and very tasty. The tiramisu was alright.

This place is a bit of Italian magic and somewhere we won't forget anytime soon. We asked the staff beforehand if they would be involved with my partner and I's gender reveal for our first child on the way and to say they exceeded our expectations is an understatement. They reserved us a table where we had a lot of privacy, the food was fantastic and honestly the genuine and friendly customer service was such a highlight. Thank you so much from us and our baby boy arriving next year for a memory we won't forget. What a special place.

Had a date night at Adriana’s. It was always busy in the past and we unluckily got turned away a couple times prior so we made a booking for this occasion (although not necessarily this time round..so..hard to say). We’ve ordered the Fettuccine Della Nonna and Filetto Al Funghi. Love the pasta! Great recommendation by the staff. Service was 5 stars. Ambience could do with an upgrade.

If I could give 6 stars for this restaurant, I would. Everything was perfect, from the time we arrived until we left. The staff are awesome, helpful and polite. The food was to die for. Starting with the garlic bread which was smothered in garlic butter just like how garlic bread should be. The steak and veggies just melted in my mouth. Super yum. Thanks so much for a great evening.

Absolutely delicious. Love love love. Hubby said his meal was a bit small for a guy.

A really good Italian restaurant in Hamilton. It's a low key operation but the food is great. Meals are sized well (especially the main sized pastas) with plenty of fresh ingredients and excellently made sauces. The Ravioli Gorgonzola is balanced well, and the Tiramisu is nothing short of amazing. Wait staff were friendly and quick with the service. Highly recommended if you're looking for Italian cuisine in Hamilton.

Had Vegan Lasagne and it was amazing. Bit of a size difference between mine and the meat option but mine was definitely big enough. Side salad was delicious too. Everyone else enjoyed their meals and recommend the spinach and blue cheese ravioli.

We searched for a pasta restaurant and turned out it was more. It’s a very traditional and authentic Italian restaurant that we couldn’t find in Auckland. We had ravioli and farfalle, both were super good. The lady who I guess is the owner offered us complimentary garlic bread when we were waiting for our pasta. The service was excellent, will definitely go again when we go to Hamilton next time. We enjoyed our dinner so much, oh and don’t forget to try the dessert.

Totally agreed with all the other 5-star reviews. We've twice ordered Adriana's Farfalle al Salmone and spaghetti marinara, and twice loved it! Very friendly staff who offer excellent service. Remember to book in advance as they're often full on weekends.

What a great meal, bad the meatballs in creamy sauce. Desert apple compost was divine.

Lovely place to take a friend and have a nice meal.fine dineing.yes.quiet..yes you can hear your partner talk.the steak was as a steak should be scotch fillet cooked perfect .. we will be back.

We were fooled by the amount of people sitting in the restaurant and it made me wish I had read reviews before deciding to dine here. It was the worst Italian food we have ever eaten and left us still hungry after paying $70. The service was slow and our food was overcooked. The fish was definitely not fresh and barely enough for a main. It was a waste of time and money.

Really enjoyed my meal here, we had starters, mains, desserts, drinks and coffees and final bill for all of this for three people was around $150. Food was simple but delicious, very much enjoyed the fettuccine. Highly recommend.

The service here is excellent. The waitresses were very friendly and the food was very tasty, i especially liked the dessert.<br/>I will definitely return.

Went for a trip down memory lane on Tuesday night, five females. Will not be going back. Pasta very oily and bland. Waited more than an hour for plates of mostly inedible food. Chicken livers were suspiciously not fresh???  Service very poor. After one drink we were not offered any more.<br/> Very noisy.<br/>Left for a very pleasant dessert at Novatel hotel across the road with incredible service and comfortable seating

Restaurant was clean and cozy, the staff were polite, efficient and helpful.  Service was fast, though we were early and it was quiet.<br/><br/>Unfortunately that's all the good things I can say about Adriana's<br/><br/>The food was so bland - I can't recall the last time I had anything so bland when eating out.<br/><br/>we started with the garlic bread which was OK, but not particularly garlicky and quite peppery.<br/><br/>My wife and I both had the Fettuccine, which consisted of slightly overcooked pasta with nicely cooked onion, mushrooms and capsicum, and some very sparse, very dry pieces of chicken in cream - and that is it.  It tasted like nothing - no seasoning, herbs or wine had been added to the "sauce", it was as far as I could tell, just cream.<br/><br/>Sadly even smothering it with Parmesan, salt and pepper could not save it and I could not finish it.  I'm not much of a cook, but my own home cooking is vastly superior to this.  Plain cream is not a sauce, and meat and vegetables need to be seasoned when they are cooked.<br/><br/>If we had not been with our children I would have sent it back.<br/><br/>I'm not sure if they stuffed up or this is how it is normally presented but it was shocking and very disappointing.<br/><br/>My children shared a lasagna, which I sampled, it was slightly better than the fettuccine, at least it had some flavor, but it was pretty boring.  It was served with some roast potatoes that were under-cooked.<br/><br/>To top it all of, 3 sticks of garlic bread, 3 mains, 2 beers and 2 softdrinks came to $118, which would have been fine if the food was edible, but just felt like a rip off given how poor the meal was.<br/>We left and got dessert elsewhere.<br/>We won't be returning.

Came just for dessert ordered tiramisu was a bit of a disappointment as wasn't proper lady fingers but just sponge cake an very rich an a bit of a bought taste.

Adriana features in most 'must-try' Hamilton restaurant columns. It's been here for almost 25 years and supposedly serves the best Italian food. So my expectations were sky-high - like 5 star rating. First impression was on the low side just because it had low lighting and there was no other customer. Been used to bright lights and enthusiastic wait-staff it took a while to absorb the Italian feel. My partner did mention that it was exactly like restaurants in Italy (he traveled there once!).<br/>Getting to the food, I ordered Polletto al Rosmarino - whole baby chicken with potatoes and seasonal veges. It probably was one of the softest versions of chicken I've ever tasted. What surprised me was the quantity of the veges and potatoes - really sparse. For the price charged, I was expecting a bit more. And the pizza presentation wasn't the best either. It tasted nice - didn't look great. <br/>For all the hype, it didn't live up to it. On the edge of old school. Though they had great music.

My partner and I tried Adriana's for the first time this week, and we were very impressed.<br/><br/>Service was warm, friendly and very helpful - we were informed we 'could sit as long as we liked' after finishing our mains and were deciding on desserts. <br/><br/>Food - promptly served and beautifully presented. Portion size was excellent and was great value for money. Delicious.<br/><br/>Cannot rate this place highly enough, we'll definitely be back!

Easily one of my worst dining experiences in Hamilton. Decor was tired, our waitress was surly and rude. She overlooked to bring my drink, when everyone else at our table was served. She forgot to bring one entree - so one of our friends had to eat alone after watching us eat. Later another drink was forgotten, although the rest of our table was served. We were a group of 6 and we had booked, so they knew to expect a full table of diners. To be fair my main was delicious, but the other five mains were underwhelming. Time Adriana's Restaurant closed its doors - they have been around just too long and have lost their passion for their cooking. And their service was simply embarrassing. I would hate to think what visitors to Hamilton would think if they had to experience this!

Went here for dinner and weren't that impressed to be honest. It had a big crowd, so we expected great things. Starter was nice, but mains came with set vegetables no matter what you ordered and weren't that great. Steak was a bit tough and none of the meals or flavours were 'wow'. But restaurant was nice and authentic and the staff were friendly. Probably wouldn't go again though - much nicer places out there...

Highly disappointing. Definitely not authentic Italian cookery. Went with a party of 10 and though only a third ordered appetisers, it took over an hour and a half for everyone to receive their mains. As we were seated close to the kitchen, we could smell something burning and ten minutes later I received my scotch fillet which that was burned on the outside and close to blue on the inside. (I ordered a medium rare). Extremely anticlimactic and disappointing. The service was sub-standard, the waitress seemed to be flustered and very abrupt with telling us about restaurant policies for using entertainment cards and rules on splitting checks. <br/><br/>I usually frequent Cafe Centrale for my Italian fix, and feel as though I was a traitor to come to this place. If you want a special dining service with friendly staff and delicious food go two doors down.

We hadn't been to Adriana's for a few years and I was a bit reluctant as some of the reviews on this site are not great. However we were very pleased with our meal. Bruschetta was divine, awesome steak cooked perfectly &amp; whole baby chicken also got good reviews. Waitress was professional &amp; polite. The place was busy with a great atmosphere. We will definitely be returning!

Adriana's was bustling on a rainy Monday night. We were warmly greeted and promptly seated even without a booking. We each started with bruschetta al pomodoro. The bread was piled high with fresh tomatoes but the overall taste was very oily. I had spaghetti al pesto for my main course - a very large serving for a 'starter' sized portion and one that was generously laced with pine nuts, but once again excessively oily and containing very little basil. The environment resembles more of a cosy trattoria than a ristorante, with warmth added care of a hearty soundtrack from Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. A reasonably pleasant dining experience.

Love the rustic atmosphere which really is what Italian is all about. Service was real good considering they only had one waitress on, she did very well... My partner had the baby chicken which he immediately regretted as was just a roast chicken, however he did read the menu. I had the ravioli in blue cheese sauce with walnuts... my gosh was absolutely amazing!!!!! the best sauce I have ever tried, was a real good size dish so partner got to share with me... deserts were beautiful and delicious... would go back in a heart beat, love the atmosphere and the food.. A++

Very sweet little Italian place said it was an authentic Italian restaurant in the Entertainment Book but surprised no meatballs???<br/>Started with Bruschetta OMG just divine! It was with garlic, fresh spinach, bacon &amp; feta with olive oil..a little messy to eat but simply yum! Main meal for me a boring Lasagna but my friend had the salmon pasta &amp; was very happy!<br/>Shared a Tiramisu which was melt in your mouth delicious! BYO with $5 corkage fee!<br/>Service was very professional &amp; friendly!

We had a party of approx 20 people booked in for dinner on a Saturday night at 7pm. They split our party into two groups on separate tables (which we didn't really like). Our first drinks and appetisers were quite prompt and we were happy so far. Our dinner orders were taken promptly too. Unfortunately this is where it all went pear-shaped. Our first table got their dinners an hour after we ordered. The second table had to wait 2.5 hours for their mains. Therefore ten of our group had to sit and wait for the second group to get their mains. We made numerous complaints to the waitresses asking where our meals were. We also had a pregnant person who had to send her meal back twice to get her steak cooked properly. Eventually she couldnt wait any longer and she left. When the chef was approached for an explanation about why the meals were taking so long, he ignored two people who asked him. He just stood and stared and didn't say a word and then turned his back. the waitresses just kept saying "theres nothing we can do". All 20 of our group made complaints. Would never ever go back to Adrianas.

Interesting to read the mixed feelings about Adriannas! <br/><br/>We started with the Bruschetta which was lovely and fresh. Yummy bread too. Hubby then had the steak and complained to me about the exceptionally excessive hot pepper (he usually loves this). The steak itself was good but cooked a tiny bit past his requested medium rare. I went with the fish parmigiana which was well prepared but by no stretch lavish. The promised crust was not discernible. I had asked what the vegetables were and opted for these rather than salad like hubbie. I waited for them to arrive but eventually realised that the three tiny half new potatoes, and quarter cup of fresh vegetables on which my fish rested in the middle of its plate, were it! Despite all, the fish was well cooked, fresh and pleasant if not as described. <br/><br/>Still feeling hungry we asked for the dessert menu. After waiting half an hour without having our order taken (there were only about four other tables occupied to the two wait staff we saw), we decided to leave and go elsewhere for pud. <br/><br/>In summary, I would not say that the food here was particularly Italian but it was fresh and well cooked though rather meagre. There were certainly no extras of any kind. The setting was quite romantic and did have an Italian feel. Reminds me.... our tealight candle burnt out, as at all the other tables, half way through our meal and were not replaced. Service was polite and prompt to start but went downhill as we progressed through out meal. We were not offered a top up of our water jug or a refill of our wine.<br/><br/>I've had a lot worse but would I go back? Maybe... but Adriannas wouldn't be my first pick.

Went here for a birthday dinner with 15+ people, was impressed with service/timing of meals considering there was so many of us. Staff were friendly and food was delicious. The majority of the table was overly impressed with their meals.

One of the most disappointing dining experiences we've ever had. We waited two hours to get our meals, which did not arrive together, and turned out to be non-authentic and bland.<br/>The service was very poor and I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone,

Hi All, If you are looking for a good pasta meal then Adriannas is the place. As for the mains it is a different story!The mains were bland, I ordered the Baby chicken. The meal looked like it was only worth $5, it was a very small whole baby chicken on 3 small steamed new potatoes and with a small plate of steamed vegies for $26. The service was very poor, as we waited for an hour and a half to get our mains, we only saw our waitress when she was serving our food. We were not offered drinks at any other time.

Romantic ambience with yummy pasta.

Reader beware... if Ian is as obnoxious in person, as he is in writing then I don't think that I am the only person that would be tempted to spit in his food.<br/><br/>I found Adriana's to be a lovely experience, from the moment I walked in the door the service was great, we had a very attentive waitress, the food was delicious and considering that we had two steak mains, two starters and a bottle of wine, I did not find $83 to be over priced at all. I truly enjoyed my evening there and it is definitely somewhere I would go again and I recommend it highly to others.

Buyer beware.. By no means is this a Italian restaurant, let alone a below average restaurant. I am sure my six year old could cook better than there chef, if you are after a very basic meal that is eatable and don't mind paying high prices then this will suit you. If you are after good quality food for a good price then this place is not for you there are much better paces in the same area..